Between Sea and Sand
by in the turning of the knife
Summary: Kassidy isn't a child anymore, no matter what Jack believes. Determined to escape her island prison, she learns Jack's stories were true! And suddenly the adventure she craved tastes very sour... Spoilers! Set after third movie


A/N: I do not own Pirate of the Caribbean, Disney retains all the rights; I will discontinue if formally asked to do so. I am not making money from this story.

Title: Born of Bonny

Chapter One: The split

Jack remembered the feel of a small hand in his, as the sounds of cannons went off somewhere in the darkness to his left. The wooden vessel shook beneath him, and Kassidy gripped his hand tightly.

"Lay off, just a bite now, I can't feel my fingers." The toddler nodded, gulped and let go, gripping his belt instead. They hid behind some water barrels on the deck, Jack, the mischievous cabin boy, and Kassidy, the child who just appeared one day, picked up from a port somewhere back a ways. She was trembling now. "Rackham's a fool."

Kassidy scowled and poked his arm. At only four years old, her impression of Rackham was nothing sort of amazement. When she came aboard, clutching the hand of Mary as if for dear life, Rackham stooped to pick her up at once, and proceeded to spoil her like any father might. He'd been cabin boy for as long as he could remember, and he remembered when Anne's belly grew too round, and she left ship for a while. She came back, but always seemed…different. For four years she was always irritated, always short tempered, thought she never hurt him. Then one day, Kassidy came aboard and Anne was smiling again.

Jack had quite the secret crush over the female pirate, and when Anne asked him to look over the little crab, he did so without complaint. Now she was like a bur he could not shake. A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"Saint be cursed, what the two of you be doing here?" Anne crouched down and hugged them both tightly, a hot pistol still smoking in her grasp. She gave them both a kiss and tried to glare, but Jack could tell she was afraid. "Listen closely now, dears. You need ta be going. It'll do no good to see yeh hang, Jacky." She touched his cheek gently, and hugged them fast. "Mary!" The other woman came over, her eyes wide at seeing the children.

"Oh hell."

"Watch yer mouth around em, aye?"

Mary laughed at her friend and patted Anne's shoulder, "Aye. What do we do with em?"

"I can fight," Jack pulled out the tiny knife Rackham bought for him, and the women smiled as he pretended to slice out and invisible enemy. "I'm gettin better."

"Aye, you are Jacky. But if yeh don't help my Kass, who'll make sure she eats her greens, and that she doesn't fall in with the wrong crowd? Don't you see, Jacky? I need yeh to go with her, for me." Anne ruffled his hair, and winced as another cannonball hit the ship, making Kassidy fall over. Jack helped Kass to her feet, holding the young girl close.

"I'll watch er." Anne smiled and kissed his cheek, making them glow pink, "That's a lad. One day, you'll be a pirate too. Maybe even better than Calico, eh?"

Jack glared, "Defiantly better than im."

Together, Anne and Mary were able to rig a jolly boat, the only one they had on the small ship, and set it in the water. Jack climbed down, and they lowered Kassidy by a bucket, since she was small enough to balance with her little foot inside. They rowed off from the ship, and Anne wasted no more time. She and Mary started calling up the men, who groaned and continued to play their cards and drink their rum.

Kassidy say across from Jack as he rowed, her thumb in her mouth, eyes wide as the waves slowly rocked the boat. As if realizing what was happening, she whirled around and cried out, "Mommy!" She tried to stand, but Jack knocked her down.

"Stop it, Kass! You'll only drown!" But she wasn't listening. Her tiny, sharp nails dug into his skin and she screamed and kicked against his stomach. It wasn't until a cannonball over shot the ship and splashed down two feet short of them that Kass curled up, and clung once more to Jack's arm.


End file.
